Creating Motion Graphics with After Effects, Volume 1: The Essentials (2nd Edition, Version 5.5) [Paperback]

Trish Meyer (Author), Trish (Author), Chris Meyer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2002 | Series: DV Expert Series

Motion graphics is the animating of digital images to create new looks, sophisticated special effects, and network logos. Adobe After Effects is the leading software application for creating motion graphics. From animating background images to creating film-style title sequences, After Effects does it all. After Effects 5.5 is sold in two editions, the standard version, which this book addresses, and the professional edition, which will be covered in a subsequent volume. This colour-packed book reveals expert techniques for creating compelling motion graphics. Step-by-step tutorials demonstrate the concepts, processes and technical details of the latest version of After Effects, including its new features of 3D Space, cameras, lights, parenting, and expression. A new lesson has been added to serve as an introduction and tour of the program for new users.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Overall, these books are fantastic and as far as I’m concerned they should come in the box with After Effects. -- Adrian Thompson, CGFocus.com, on the Meyers' three After Effects titles

About the Author

Foreword by Harry Marks, the former Vice President and Creative Director for On-Air Promotions for ABC and CBS as well as a consultant to NBC. Acknowledged by many as the father of modern broadcast motion graphics, Marks is an Apple Master and first recipient of the Broadcast Designers Association Lifetime Achievement Award. Trish and Chris Meyer are the creative forces behind CyberMotion, an award-winning motion graphics studio that has created imagery for NBC, ABC, HBO Fox, TLC, and New Line among others. Both teach at the American Film Institute in Hollywood, and write the Motion Graphics column in DV Magazine.

Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: CMP Books; 2nd edition (September 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1578201144
• ISBN-13: 978-1578201143
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #506,852 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

62 of 62 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding, November 23, 2002

By 

Jay Rogers (Buda, TX United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Creating Motion Graphics with After Effects, Volume 1: The Essentials (2nd Edition, Version 5.5) (Paperback)

This is a book about THINKING in After Effects. It's one of the best software tutorials I've ever read because it is written from a production point of view. It's not a catalog of features and effects, nor is it a series of technical monographs grouped by functionality and interspersed with a few screencaps (*cough* after effects 5 bible *cough*). It's grouped by things you need to accomplish in production and written simply & clearly with copious full-color screen grabs. Sidebars handle technical detail, workarounds, and asides. What Trish and Chris are doing you is guiding you through work habits they've garnered in 10 years of working with this app in a relaxed, conversational way. Thumbs Up!

Hint for reading this book: When you start each chapter, read all the sidebars and callouts first as a warmup, then go back and read everything.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An eye-opening, full-color reference and tutorial, November 8, 2002

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Creating Motion Graphics with After Effects, Volume 1: The Essentials (2nd Edition, Version 5.5) (Paperback)

Now in an updated and expanded second edition which covers version 5.5, Creating Motion Graphics with After Effects Volume 1: The Essentials is an eye-opening, full-color reference and tutorial written for Adobe "After Effects" users of all skill and experience levels. "Learner friendly" step-by-step tutorials effectively teach the reader how to exploit the animation capabilities of the software from layering, to learning how to represent motion paths and velocity, to masking, track mattes, and lighting in three dimensions, and more. A superb "how-to" self-teaching and highly recommended reference for aspiring computer artists and digital video makers, Creating Motion Graphics With After Effects is accompanied with a CD-ROM containing a completed user-oriented and accessible tutorial enhanced with hundreds of movies, stills, objects and audio clips, as well as the tryout version of Adobe After Effects 5.5 for the Macintosh or Windows.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best book available for beginners, October 8, 2005

By 

S. Johnson (OR United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Creating Motion Graphics with After Effects, Vol. 1: The Essentials (3rd Edition, Version 6.5) (Paperback)

I was a new user of After Effects, and had never used an animation program before. (I do most of my work in Photoshop and Premiere.) After buying two books from the local Borders (including Bolante's "After Effects 6.5") and browsing through a few others, I was about to (1) sign up for a class, or (2) give up. Good luck learning from most of the AE books out there; I couldn't.

So I began searching through the reviews on Amazon and came across "Vol. 1: The Essentials." It deserves the excellent reviews it's received. I'm no longer getting an ulcer trying to learn this program; the Meyers' approach is very logical, the step-by-step tutorials are fantastic, and some of the special effects included on the CD-ROM might be useful future projects.

If you're a new user, save yourself a lot of money and frustration and start with Meyers. This is the book to buy.